Various types of bathroom ventilation fans have been proposed over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,640 to Penlesky et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,851 to Sarnosky et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,175 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,579 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,770 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,203,416 to Craw et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,654,495 to Adrian et al.
Often there is a need to have a speaker system in bathrooms for so that music and/or communication purposes. However, it can be difficult to retrofit a bathroom to include a speaker system. For example, the added speaker may have to be surface mounted and as a result can be unsightly. Additionally, speaker systems generally require hardwiring to a sound source. Additionally, speakers may require a separate power source that also requires separate hardwiring to power source. Adding wiring can add additional labor and material expense and can result in unsightly wire connections.
Adding a speaker system to an existing bath fan can be difficult since there is little or no space in the housings of the bath fan. Additionally, noise from the ventilation fan itself can cause distortion to the speaker sound system. Still further problems would include being able to activate the speaker system separately from the ventilation fan since the fans have one switch, and it would be undesirable to constantly turn the speaker system on and off with the fan.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.